Politics and the People in Revolutionary Russia: A Provinicial History. New Studies in European History by Sarah Badcock (review)

Abstract

772 SEER, 87, 4, OCTOBER 2OOg thinkers mayhavepartedcompany on thequestion ofGod,buttheproblems raisedare stillimportant. Finkel'sworkfocuseson the Soviet side of the question.His carefully researched and scholarly workexaminesthewayin whichtheyoungSoviet stateand particularly Leninidentified thosewhoseideas and influence were likely tobe a serious dangerandthewayinwhichthey weretobe neutralized. The Bolsheviks weresuspicious ofall intellectual organizations and Finkel's workis an excellentaccountof how the intelligentsia, who had hitherto seenthemselves as beingthemoralconscience ofsociety, werebrought under control and eventually replacedbythosewho couldbe reliedon to be loyal to theregime.This involved notonlyphilosophers and writers butdoctors, engineers and anyonewithprofessional loyalties. Although academicstriedto maintain theautonomy ofuniversities, theBolsheviks wereverythorough in the destruction of such structures. Ironically, perhaps,Lenin used his own experience ofexileundertsarism to exiletheseideologicalfoes.He appears tohavethought thatkilling themwouldraisetoogreata protest intheWest. Throughout, itis clearthatLenin,evenafter hisstroke, was thedriving force behindthearrest and expulsion ofleadingthinkers and activists. Finkelemphasizes thepointthatalthough NEP is frequently presented as a timeofrelative cultural freedom, mostintellectuals experienced itas a time of'increasing stateencroachment on theirscholarly, professional and artistic activities' (p.3). Duringthe economicand politicaldifficulties of the early 1920sitis interesting to see thevalueplaced on intellectual freedom. There is an ironythatMarxistsemphasizing economicprimacyrecognizedthe power of ideas and foughtstrenuously againstopposingviews. My only criticism is thatthereis no bibliography to thisbook. Since thisis a very scholarly workitisa falseeconomy on thepartofthepublisher nottoprovide thefullacademicapparatus. Bothofthesebooksilluminate an episodein Russianhistory whichwas previously littleknown.They showthatLenin'sactionswere clearlymotivatedby ideologyand givelie to theargument thathis actionswerepragmaticand in response to particular events.It is also clearhow theworldof emigration and the SovietUnion continuedto have close linksand were interested in each other'sactivities. Theseworks are ofundoubted interest to scholars oftheperiodbutalsogiverisetowiderreflection on theroleofideas and theneedforwatchfulness whenideological conformity is demanded. Christ Church Catherine Andreyev University ofOxford Badcock,Sarah.Politics andthe People inRevolutionary Russia: A Provinicial History. New Studiesin EuropeanHistory. CambridgeUniversity Press,Cambridge andNewYork,2007.xvii+ 260pp. Maps. Figures. Tables.Notes. Bibliography. Index.£55.00:$99.00. Leon Trotskii describedrevolution as ctheforcible entranceofthemasses intotherealmofrulership overtheirown destiny'. In orderto discover the reviews 773 voice of 'ordinary Joe', Sarah Badcock has undertaken some impressive research intotheKazan' and Nizhegorodregions during thecrucialmonths ofFebruary-October 1917.As an intelligent and subtlehistorian Badcockis wellaware ofthedifficulties ofthisproject.Not onlydoes she have to pay closeattention to thedifferences betweenand within theregions, she is also trying toresurrect theviewsofpeoplewholeft no written records. How does i~'t~i£* inxTfiQticrcktf* tine* pvnpri pn r pc r'T nrnmonr r^T^iorp^no lA/riP^n frii* or>nrrpc are* UHV 111 V VJUCUIV/ HIV VjJVUVl IVllWk) KJA. Ul U111U1 ¥ V/lUiiV/lig YTXAV^ alwaysat leastone stepremoved?Badcock' s answeris to 'sourcesare dominated by theurbanpoliticalelite,butb carefully, we can challengethe assumptions and miscoi inthesources, and a subtly altered picture oftherevolutioi XX U1V/ kJVV Ul WU t*.X V^ acknowledge that y evaluating them iceptionsinherent laryyearemerges' (p. 4). The dangeris thatthe added interpretation is a reflection of the historian's obsessions rather thanofan unknowable contemporary outlook. Muchofthebookisgivenovertorefuting a contemporary eliteviewofthe massesas unableto understand government policy.Ifonlythe'darkpeople' couldbe enlightened thenthere wouldbe a better resDonse totheQuestion of questions - 'how to feedRussia' - and theintegration ofthepopulation intotheelite'spreferred mode ofpoliticalactionmembership ofpolitical parties, loyalty to theruleoflaw and theprioritization ofnationalovermyopic interests. Badcocklocatesthefailure oftheProvisional Government and indeedofthe 'democratic experiment' in Russia to thegulfthatseparated ordinary folk and eliteconceptions in 1917.Average Joewas notpoliticized in thesamewayas theelites.Political parties, forexample,werenotpartofhis identity. Therewereno strong partyaffiliations in a periodofrapidpolitical flux.Ordinary Joe was concernedwithlocal conditions and especiallyhis economic plight. Thesefactors conditioned hispolitical responses andbrought himmainly intoconflict withcentral government policy. Thisis especially evident intheProvisional Government's rational attempt to introducecontrolover the distribution of grainas the economiccrisis worsened over1917.Grainsurplus areaswere,however, unwilling tocooperate withtheestablishment ofprovisions committees thatweresupposedto make censuses and toarrangeforthesale and requisition ofgrain.The committees wereat leastsetup in deficit areas,butthenborethebrunt ofpopularanger as foodshortages werenotrelieved.Badcockshowshow local villagesdrew upontraditional patterns ofprotest to organizeeffectively to resist anypolicy thatwas not to theirliking.Ultimately, 'attempts to "educate" the local population abouttheefficacy ofthegrainmonopoly failedbecausethelocal populationrefusedto make the personalsacrifices required,not because theyfailedto understand themessage'(p. 236). This drovetheProvisional Government to resortin some instancesto force,but it lackedthe armed might fora full-scale attackon everyinstance oflocalism. Badcock is veryknowledgeable about the secondaryliterature and is careful to notewhenherconclusions support thefindings ofotherresearch. This is trueof regionalstudies,wherelinksare drawnwiththe workof OrlandoFiges,MikeHickey, MarkBakerand AaronRetish,and ofcontinuitiesin formsof action,forexamplethe prominence of womenrioters in 1 917'resonates withdescriptions ofpeasantwomen'sprotest duringthelate 1920sand early1930s'(p...